Asia Pacific News: kolkata

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100 Dies In Indian State Of West Bengal For Drinking Toxic Liquor

Written By Admin on Thursday, December 15, 2011 | December 15, 2011

By STAFF Writer
December 15, 2011

Illegal alcohol killed over hundred people in the Indian state of West Bengal. Late Tuesday poor manual workers, hawkers, rickshaw pullers and laborers began falling ill after drinking adulterated batch of bootleg liquor in Mongrahat town of Diamond Harbour, 31 miles south of Kolkata city.

All the 100 dead drank "country liquor" at different makeshift bars which sold the same brand from illicit distillery of Diamond Harbour. Many more are hospitalised for treatment, but the death toll may rise further.

Alcoholism is a significant problem in the country in urban as well as rural India. Liquor poisoning is frequent in the country. At least 130 people died in 2009 in state of Gujarat in similar incident.

Police have arrested four people so far and ten illegal liquor shops have been demolished, said official. It is also reported that angry locals have destroyed the blamed distillery.

In the town one litre of such liquor costs just 10 rupees (about $20) and is often sold door-to-door. A manual laborer in the country earns around 150 rupees (about $3) each day.

West Bengal is one of the poorest state in India. A week ago a hospital fire in its capital Kolkata killed around ninety people. It is believed that the fire started from a carpark area in the basement that was used as a store breaching local regulations.

December 15, 2011 | 0 comments

88 Died In India's Hospital Fire, Owners Arrested

Written By Admin on Friday, December 9, 2011 | December 09, 2011

By STAFF Writer
December 09, 2011

AMRI HOSPITAL FIRE NEWS - Six owners of India's Kolkata city AMRI Hospital were arrested Friday evening following massive fire in the hospital that killed at least 88 people out of suffocation.

The arrested owners are SK Todi, Ravi Todi, RS Goenka, Manish Goenka, Dayananda Agarwal and Prasanta Goenka. The licence of AMRI has also been cancelled.

The private air-conditioned six-storeys hospital was issued a warning back in July this year about inadequate fire safety mechanism.

The fire in the building spread from basement, engulfing one after other wards trapping people in hundreds. Most of the patients died out of suffocation caused by carbon monoxide accumulation and some due to burns.

The worst affected patients were in the ICU ward who died due to asphyxiation.

Deaths could have been prevented if the accumulated gas could get a way to escape. The entire building is surrounded by glass facade.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reached the spot but resulted in stoking the rage of people and leading to near-stampede.

AMRI has announced Rs 5 lakh as compensation to families of the deceased. Separate packages of compensation have also been announced by the centre and state government.

Deaths could have been prevented if the accumulated gas could get a way to escape. The entire building is surrounded by glass facade.

Rescued patients have been shifted to different hospitals. About 42 of them to Mukundpur AMRI Hospital, 9 at Saltlake AMRI, 5 at Belle Vue Clinic, 2 at SSKM Hospital and 1 at Calcutta Medical College.

The cause of the fire is still not known. The National Disaster Rescue Force team has checked the basement of the hospital for radiation leak said chief minister. Ms Banerjee also added that forensic experts would be inquiring into it too.

December 09, 2011 | 0 comments

Asia Pacific Region's Weekend Front Pages

Written By Admin on Monday, May 23, 2011 | May 23, 2011

By STAFF Writer

SUNDAY, May 22, 2011

What few of the leading newspapers of countries in Asia Pacific regions published today, Sunday, on their weekend edition? Below are image formats of those. Click on the images to enlargen and read. Some computer's monitor or other devices may get smaller font or tough readability. Sorry for the inconvenience.